


Tales From The Zombielands

by hbunn



Category: Borderlands (Video Games), Tales From the Borderlands (Telltale Video Game), Tales from the Borderlands - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Canon-Typical Violence, Family Loss, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-12 13:47:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28886346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hbunn/pseuds/hbunn
Summary: When the world goes down in a horrible dumpster fire of undead, chomped loved ones, and frantically amputated body parts, an unlikely group of survivors manage to find one another and carry on through the chaos.A Zombie AU that loosely follows the TFTBL storyline, featuring switching POV’s between Rhys and Fiona.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	1. prologue to the apocalypse

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the apocalypse! Here are your state designated warnings.   
> Moving forward, there will be the following trigger warnings: Heavy Description of Gore, Terminal Illness, and an Abusive Relationship written for the sole purpose of highlighting just how evil humanity can be. Each heavily featured trigger warning will be mentioned at the start of the chapter.
> 
> TW: description and aftermath of limb amputation.

Fiona took a deep shuddering breath and pulled her backpack tighter around her shoulders. She reached up to wipe the dried moisture from her face, sniffling before then reaching up to pull as much of her growing hair into a tie that she could. She double checked her holster at her hip and that every inch of her limbs and neck were covered in some way. The woman turned her attention to the younger woman sitting on the edge of their bed, tired and widened eyes staring into absolutely nothing. Fiona wordlessly pulled her sister up, humming softly to her companion as she zipped up her dull green jacket, suppressing a shiver before she reached up to fix her bandana.

“It’s time to go,” Fiona spoke with a forced smile, her voice hoarse,

Her sister did not utter a word. Her green eyes remained as far away as possible, the smile melting away from Fiona’s lips as it sunk in that her words were meeting a brick wall at best. She sighed softly, closing her hand around Sasha’s and led her out of the room.

Fiona navigated silently through the messy house, moving into the kitchen and peeking out through the windows above the sink, over the turned over dining room table, and then the window built into the kitchen door itself. With no sign of movement outside the house, Fiona led her sister through the softly creaking door and down into the road that connected the neighborhood of identical homes.

Fiona passed cars that had already been checked and salvaged, as well as bodies that she refused to look at. With one hand firmly clasped around Sasha’s, they made their way into the windy and cold main streets of the relatively small town they had been hiding just outside of. On foot, it took about twenty minutes of hurried walking to get downtown and to see the brunt of the destruction.

Though Fiona’s eyes easily wandered over the broken windows, crashed cars, and strewn bodies, Sasha seemed to never even blink at the state of the town. Fiona glanced back to her several times every minute, only to find the ever wide eyed, distant look on her sister’s features.

Silence encompassed them until Fiona heard a noise that broke the consistency of their surroundings. She shushed her sister softly and pulled her behind the nearest vehicle, lowering her younger sibling before crouching down as well.

Peering through the shattered glass of the four door car, Fiona watched with chills crawling down her figure as a small group of about five stumbling, blood soaked figures made their way around the corner of a building. Gashes and lacerations marred their bodies, not a single one of them missing the giant chunks of flesh that had been ripped out by teeth.

“Fuck me,” Fiona whispered harshly, trying her best to ignore the growing cold.

She waited for a few minutes, her hand staying tight around her sister’s until the group of undead had stumbled a decent distance away. She let her hand slip away from Sasha’s, only to push the woman to her feet and move quickly to her side, looping their arms together.

They moved at a faster pace, Sasha’s feet dragging, but despite that, Fiona never stopped.

* * *

Rhys’ screams were the loudest sounds ripping through the still air, his vision blurring in and out as he craned his neck to the sight of his right arm. Another scream tore through his chest, tears soaking his face as blood pooled on the ground, around the base of his right arm- his right arm, that now laid, completely removed from his body, on the ground. He barely felt the bloody hands scrambling to grab ahold of his face, two thumbs resting on his cheek bones as they worked to turn his head and pull his line of sight to none other than the face of his best friend.

“Rhys-  _ RHYS! _ Bud-buddy, look at me!”

Rhys could barely process Vaughn’s voice before more hands were gripping his body, his senses overwhelmed as his own voice faded out of his ears. He felt himself pulled around, the pain in what was left of his arm shooting like fire through the rest of his body. Voices clamored around him and Vaughn he could suddenly hear screaming as well. His vision all but blinked out completely as he was pushed down onto his back. Faces of people he didn’t know that well fluttered in and out of his line of sight, until finally, they were all replaced with just Vaughn. The man hunched over his chest, crying fervently.

Rhys felt like only seconds passed before he was struggling to speak, a dull hanging light overhead forcing him to squint his eyes shut as he hoarsely whispered.

“Vaughn,” he croaked, his friend’s head snapping up, dark blue eyes wide and full of tears. “Vaughn- wh-where—”

“He’s awake!” Vaughn shouted, scrambling up out of a seated position to move, standing at the bed beside Rhy’s head. Both hands shifted to clasp Rhys’ face between them, thumbs resting once again on the cheekbones that were pale from blood loss. “Hey, buddy, hey- hey, can you hear me? You with me?”

“H-hey,” Rhys managed, licking his lips as shuffling erupted from seemingly all around him. “Vaughn...Vaughn, you-you’re crying…”

Rhys’ eyes fluttered shut, though he desperately clung to consciousness. He felt more hands, definitely not Vaughn’s, touching his chest, stomach, and the arm that burned with a pain he couldn’t put into words. The man groaned, trying to shift away from all of the touch, but he found it nearly impossible to move at all.

“He’s not out of the woods yet,” spoke a voice Rhys didn’t entirely recognize. It could have been one of the other survivors that had found them, but he could definitely not say for sure. “This is the first time he seemed conscious?”

“Y-yes, h-he said- he said my name!” came back Vaughn’s voice, his thumbs moving with a familiar gentleness over Rhys’ face. “He’s- he’s alive, he’s gonna—”

“V-Vaughn,” Rhys whispered, his eyes filling with tears behind closed lids. “Vaughn, d-don’t- don’t, don’t go, don’t let..don’t let me…”

And just like that, Rhys slipped once more, and what felt like mere moments later, the man’s eyes shot open. He stared, vision still blurry, up into the hanging light overhead. The lightbulb was dead, not so much as flickering from the ceiling. There was silence, and Rhys pushed himself to shift, amazed at the sensation of sitting up, the feeling of his figure singling out all of the stiffness that had built up over the course of… well, however long he had been lying in the shitty little cot that had been used for his recovery.

He looked around, finding nothing in the darkness. A small room was what surrounded him, a single door with a glass window across from him bringing the only source of illumination into the area. Rhys slipped out of the bed, focused entirely on the door as he stumbled for it. His legs felt numb, but heavy like sand at the same time as he reached for the doorknob. His clammy hands turned the handle and he pushed it open, only to be greeted with darkness.

“Vaughn?” he called out.

There was only a moment of silence before something,  _ someone _ , slammed full force into his figure and knocked him back.

It was then that Rhys jolted away with a shout, eyes snapping open to find the lit bulb overhead and the shitty cot still supporting his heavy figure. He yelled for his friend once again, nearly throwing himself out of his bed before Vaughn appeared as he always did, right on time to grab his friend and meet his sunken, exhausted gaze.

“Rhys, don’t move!” Vaughn cried, gripping Rhys’ face firmly. “Don’t move- I’m right here! You’re safe! You’re safe, dude!”

Rhys blubbered, his words all cobbling together to form an incoherent string of noises that were accompanied by a continuous response of comforts and shushes from Vaughn. Rhys scrambled to raise his hands to Vaughn’s, feeling the fingers of his left hand practically knit themselves into the spaces between his friend’s. There was a moment, a pause, before Rhys slowly craned his neck to look over, finding the stump that his arm was no longer attached to. It was in that moment that everything rushed back into his head. His breaths came faster as the pain attacked him ruthlessly, Vaughn’s voice becoming dangerously distant.

“No, no, o-oh, oh m- my, my  _ God _ —!”

“ **_Rhys!_ ** ”

The man snapped his wide eyes back to Vaughn’s, tears running freely down the man’s face again as he found, to his shock, the same expression reflected back. Vaughn shuddered, shaking his head before all but throwing himself onto Rhys, arms wrapping tightly around his friend.

“D-don’t, please,” Vaughn whispered, his words riddled with sobs. “Please, please stay- Rhys, s-stay with me.”

Rhys could manage nothing besides lifting his remaining arm to wrap around Vaughn’s back, holding the man as tightly as he could. His back resting flat against his shitty cot, Rhys’ eyes became nearly lost in the dim, now flickering, light from above.

He couldn’t fall back to sleep.


	2. should've been home yesterday

The speed at which they drove was not record breaking by any means, but it allowed for a slight breeze to flutter through the shattered passenger window, the sensation drawing Sasha back to her surroundings. Her arms were tucked against her stomach, green eyes idly roving the world as they drove past it. They weren’t going over forty miles per hour, but with what they had been through thus far, among being confined to walking across the United States, it was practically magic for Sasha, at least.

“Will you get the map out, Sash?” Fiona asked without looking over, her voice soft.

Sasha nodded wordlessly and reached into the glove box, rummaging through the sparse supplies before carefully pulling out the map and unfolding the partially ripped paper. She flattened it out against the center console, sliding her finger along the surface until she found the spot she knew themselves to be at.

Fiona glanced over, finding Sasha’s finger and then searching the immediate area quickly before looking back to the road. Her eyes only acknowledged the presence of slowly stumbling bodies around them as she unconsciously picked up the speed to get through the barren interstate a little faster.

“Lee’s Summit is where we’re moving towards, right?” Fiona asked, casting another quick look at the map.

Sasha hummed in confirmation. Fiona smiled softly before reaching one hand over to grab the map and pull it to the steering wheel, flattening it out against the surface, careful to avoid the horn. She only intermittently took her eyes off the road to analyze the map a bit closer, committing to memory their route. She hummed to herself and handed the map back to her sister and looked a bit grimly at the gas tank for their barely held together truck.

“Bates City has to have some untouched stuff,” Fiona muttered, mostly to herself. “It’s barely a town.”

Sasha snorted, another sound that brought a smile to Fiona’s face.

“Remember… remember when Felix would take us on those stupid road trips,” Fiona started, her words tentative and her voice soft, “but we were like, seven, and the road trip was just him driving us down the nearest interstate to like, a park that was less than an hour away?”

Sasha managed a small laugh, but said nothing.

Fiona continued, ever careful, “And there was that one, it was like, the third one we ever went to, and it was that cute little sort of city park that had the big rainbow colored climbing frame. Felix called it monkey bars and it was the first time we had  _ ever _ heard that.”

Her sister bubbled with small giggles, a feeling of euphoria practically exploding in Fiona’s chest at the beloved, and so unfamiliar sound as of late.

“We made monkey noises at him,” Sasha murmured.

Fiona stared across the car to her sister, eyes wide, her heart skipping a beat. She could have cried. She refrained from it, blinking away the all too familiar wetness in her eyes before looking back to the road.

“Then you fell on your ass because you tried to jump while you were on  _ top _ of the bars,” Fiona carried on, practically bursting with her own laughter at the very easily recalled memory. “Like, I get it, we were kids, but holy shit, that was one of the stupidest things you ever did.”

“Shut up!” Sasha cried while reaching over to shove her older sister’s shoulder. “You have no room to talk! Your eleventh birthday? Saint Patrick’s day in eighth grade?”

Fiona’s face went beet red. “Hey, come on, shut up!”

It was then that a full, unfiltered laugh simply bursted from Sasha’s chest like sunlight through heavy clouds. Fiona lifted a hand to her mouth to muffle her own, even though the intention was to hide the fact that the sound was dangerously like a sob. She looked over at Sasha, their eyes lit up brighter than they had been. 

Fiona would ride that high for days.

The fuel light had clicked on at some point after they had turned off the interstate for the gas station that was nestled between the winding road and Bates City. As they cautiously pulled into the parking lot, the pumps abandoned and only ominous blood smears scattered about various surfaces, Fiona grumbled to herself.

“They might have medicine inside too,” she said quietly, glancing to Sasha.

“Better to look,” she replied. “Besides… food’s in there too.”

Fiona sighed. “All right. Gas first, then we go in  _ together. _ ”

Sasha nodded. With one moment more to prepare themselves, spent looking out every window to once more check their surroundings, the woman climbed silently out of the truck and into the chilled air. Fiona slid the keys out of the ignition and the handgun out from beneath her seat, looking to make sure Sasha was retrieving her metal bat from her floorboards. Wordlessly, Fiona reached to pull the lever to open the gas cover, slipping around the car to the gas pump where Sasha stood, her eyes never staying in one place for too long. Fiona couldn’t help her own rechecking of their surroundings before turning to check the gas pump itself.

“How much do you think would fill it up?” Fiona murmured, casting another glance to the operation booth a few pumps away. “Maybe we can just… set it, like if we paid with cash.”

Sasha shrugged her shoulders, looking up to her sister.

Fiona shrugged in response as well before gesturing for Sasha to follow her. The pair made their way, their steps calculated and their figures hunched over a fraction. The glass windows let them peek into the small operating booth, the less than spacious area seeming untouched with everything ready for the employee to clock in. It was a weird nostalgia, a sigh leaving Fiona as she slipped around the building to find the entrance. Of course, it was locked, but the attempt had to be made. She searched the immediate surroundings for a key, but found nothing and resorted to returning to the glass windows once more.

“We might have to break it,” Fiona muttered.

“I have Felix’s cards,” Sasha said, her words small.

Fiona nodded. “We’ve already used a lot. I don’t want to run out and need the money for a pump that we can’t cheat like this.”

Fiona heaved a sigh and shook her head. “Okay, so the coast looks clear. Trade weapons with me- first sign of a shitshow, we’re out.”

Sasha wordlessly swapped with her sister, fumbling to catch the truck’s keys as Fiona also passed them to her.

“You be ready to bolt and start that truck, you understand me?” Fiona spoke, her words stern and serious. “I can run and jump into the bed if it comes to that- but don’t you dare hesitate if you’re in danger.”

Sasha nodded solemnly, swallowing the lump in her throat as Fiona waved her toward their vehicle. She paused only a moment more before turning and heading back to the truck, one hand holding the gun pointed at the asphalt ground and the other tightly clutching the starting key between her fingers. Fiona let out a deep breath and turned back to the booth, her heart pounding. She repeated to herself-  _ this is the best thing to do right now.  _ Fiona reeled back with the bat and with all her might swung just as hard as she could. The loud crack was jarring, splitting nearly all the way through on the first hit. Fiona swung one more time and the window practically erupted in shards, the noise sharper than the first. She wasted no time climbing in, relieved that there was no automatic alarm.

The memories were vague at best, but Fiona never quite forgot the constantly drilled method of activating pumps and making absolute sure she chose the right one. A quick glance and she knew which pump their truck was at, hurriedly activating it for eighty dollars’ worth of gas. With that, Fiona grabbed as many snacks and drinks as her shirt, working as a pouch, could carry. She left through the door of the booth, one hand tight around her bat and the other holding the hem of her shirt.

Once outside, she saw Sasha peeking over, wide eyed, expectant.

“Fill her up!” Fiona called, laughing as she practically approached with a stride in her step.

She deposited the acquired food in the cabin and watched as Sasha filled the truck to the brim. As it clicked off, Fiona hummed to herself, looking around for any of the bright red gas tanks. She let out a heavy breavy, patting Sasha’s shoulder.

“Okay, start the car and get in, I’m gonna take one more quick look around for some gas tanks,” she said, grinning. “Whatever we can take. I don’t want to waste a damn thing.”

Sasha nodded. They stepped around the truck together, Sasha climbing in and revving the truck to life as Fiona made her way back to the booth. There had been none inside of it, and if there had been any stocked up beside of it, they had been taken by then. Fiona carefully made her way around to the far side of structure, gasping loud enough to obtain the full attention of the handful of undead that were stumbling toward the ruckus of the broken glass.

“Oh, fellas, come on, I just needed a damn gas tank,” Fiona groaned to herself, shaking her head in more annoyance than anything else. With one final look around, the woman turned and jogged back to the truck, climbing into the passenger’s seat.

“None?” Sasha asked, glancing to the five visible figures stumbling towards them.

“Didn’t see any, let’s go,” Fiona responded, looking back to the gas pump wistfully as they drove away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!!!!!! i love to see coments and kudos, let me know what you think so far!


	3. hope for a better day

Rhys very unfortunately blinked his eyes open in the middle of his severed limb being redressed. The main took in a sharp breath of air, nearly recoiling away from the pain before being stabilized by unseen hands. He snapped his head around to find Vaughn, his red eyed and teary friend looking back at him. Vaughn hurriedly took Rhys’ face into his hands, nodding his head furiously.

“Rhys, hey buddy,” Vaughn croaked out, trying his hardest to get his friend to focus only on his own face. “Listen, I know i-it hurts a little, but it’s okay, w-we’re cleaning up the wound, we’re gonna make you f-feel way better, trust me!”

Rhys stuttered out nonsense for a moment before wincing, his teeth clamping together as bandages were tied back around what was left of his arm. Still, he tried to look at Vaughn and only Vaughn, muttering a bit more unintelligible noises before finally exhaling a deep breath, eyes shutting as he fell limp against the cot.

“Vaughn, what- I’m- Vaughn, i-it hurts,” Rhys stammered out, a sob shaking his frail figure as Vaughn practically threw himself onto the man, burying his face in Rhys’ neck, both arms clumsily wrapping around his best friend’s chest.

“I know,” Vaughn sniffled, eyes shut against Rhys’ frame. “It’s gonna be okay. We’re safe.”

“Ar-are you hurt, too?” Rhys wheezed, lifting his hand to try and find purchase with his fingers wrapping around Vaughn’s shirt. “I don’t- I don’t remember- I don’t—”

“No, dude,” he replied quickly, leaning up to meet Rhys’ eyes. “Dude, you- you- you took, l-like, you took th-the- the bite. Y-you took- you took the hit for me, Rhys, y-you—”

Rhys blinked his eyes rapidly, trying to focus on the still crying face of his friend. A sensation swelled in his chest, something heavy and uncomfortable, his lip quivering as tears filled his own eyes.

“Why,  _ why _ did you do that, dude?”

The feeling was replaced with something far more tangible after Vaughn uttered those words. First confusion, then an overwhelming mixture of anger and agony.

“W-what do you  _ mean _ ?!” Rhys cried out, dropping his hand to the cot to try and force himself upright. The attempts were futile, Vaughn shocked into action, his hands pushing Rhys back down. “What the hell, w-what do you— of  _ course _ I did that, I c-couldn’t- I couldn’t-”

“R-Rhys, don’t get upset, I-I’m sorry!” Vaughn sobbed, his hands shaking as they held Rhys as still as possible. “I’m sorry, p-please don’t get upset!”

“I would do it again, Vaughn,” Rhys practically wailed. “I wou-would- You’re my best f-friend, of  _ course _ I did that!”

Vaughn nodded, nearly gasping for air as he tried to gain what little composure there was left for him to have. Rhys watched, feeling more helpless than he ever had, but he had no words he could think of that would do Vaughn any good. There was no comfort to be had- none that Rhys could think of. 

“It’s okay,” Rhys whispered, despite everything. “It- Hey, bu-buddy, it’s okay.”

Vaughn shook his head, his hands shifting to take Rhys’ between them. “I c-can’t lose you, dude, I can’t do that.”

“You won’t,” Rhys answered, his words firm even in his condition. “I’m no-not going anywhere, I p-promise.”

Vaughn choked back a sob. “O-okay.”

Rhys couldn’t be sure how much time passed between their exchange, and when a slow knock came at the door. At that point, Vaughn had pulled a seat up to stay beside the cot, coming and going with food, drink, and whatever else he thought Rhys would need or want to keep him down in the bed. The two of them turned to look, finding Yvette standing in the doorway, her dirty clothes clinging to her exhausted figure.

“Yvette, you-you’re—”

“Hey, Rhys,” she spoke, her words just as pitiful as her eyes. She joined Vaughn at the bed side, pointedly not looking at her friend’s injury. “Took you long enough. Thought you were never gonna wake up.”

Rhys sputtered momentarily before looking to Vaughn, brows furrowed. “H-how long was I…?”

“Two days,” Vaughn murmured, glancing to Yvette. “We’ve just stayed at Yvette’s place. Figured it was the safest place that we could… stay put.”

Rhys frowned, groaning softly as he laid his head back, eyes closing. He took a deep breath and then turned his head towards his friends.

“How’s… the rest of the world?” he agreed, his words hesitant.

Yvette sighed, pulling up her own seat beside Vaughn. “What little I've heard from radio stations and from passing people… it’s not awesome. The states are the only thing I know are even experiencing this. Maybe- maybe someone will help us.”

“I haven’t even heard about where the military o-or, I don’t know, someone who can help us  _ fight _ \- it’s like the world fell apart all at once,” Vaughn stammered out, shaking his head, instinctively reaching his hands to hold each of his friend’s.

“It’s only been, like, a week,” Yvette said softly, her thumb moving over Vaughn’s hand gently. “We just… have to wait. I think that’s the smartest thing to do.”

Vaughn shook his head, looking to Rhys. “W-we need a  _ hospital _ , we can’t just keep him here like this!”

Rhys shifted his hand to practically engulf Vaughn’s smaller palm into his own, fingers squeezing tightly. “Vaughn. It’s gonna be okay. P-people have to, like, do a shitty job amputating stuff all the time. Like that guy in that movie, where he’s hiking or whatever.”

Yvette’s face looked a mixture of shock and disbelief. The silence between both of those looks from his friends quickly made Rhys wonder what he said that earned such a reaction. He started to come up with a remedial statement, only for his friend to speak first.

“Didn’t that guy die?” Yvette uttered out loud, only for Vaughn to cry out.

“No!” Rhys fussed. “Th-they made a movie about him! He survived, it was a feat of, of- of human survival instinct!”

Yvette hummed to herself. “Huh. Really thought he died.”

“He didn’t die!”

After he half shouted that final statement, his confidence only matched by his incredulousness, a silence practically echoed around them. A second time Rhys wondered if he had said or done the wrong thing, holding out a moment longer before, once again, Yvette broke the silence with a half to herself remark.

“Sick people are up and cannibalizing other people and we’re arguing about  _ 127 Hours. _ ”

Another pause wedged itself between the trio before Rhys snorted softly, looking to Vaughn who, despite the very big tears in his tired eyes, was apparently fighting a smile.

“Did we ever grow up?” the woman continued, looking between her friends with a growing from, eyes lighting up behind her dark rimmed glasses.

“Probably for the best we didn’t,” Vaughn murmured, squeezing the hands of his friends once again.

Rhys sighed softly, nodding. “Well… at least we have each other. And a pretty big house. And food for a bit, I hope?”

“If we figure out a way to cook stuff like pasta and meat, yeah, we’re set for a couple months,” she replied, watching as the man frowned. “If not.. we got cans of soup and snack crackers for about one month.”

Rhys groaned loudly, closing his eyes. “Well… we have that, at least. That’s time to figure out what the hell we’re gonna do in a month. Right?”

Yvette shrugged lightly and moved to gently nudge Vaughn’s shoulder with her own. “It’ll work out. Between the three of us, we got at least a couple solid thoughts, right?”

Vaughn managed a soft chuckle. “We’ll hope.”

Rhys lost track of time, unsure of how long the three of them simply say together, and kept one another company.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the late posting!!!! hope you enjoy :)


	4. make my way back home when i learn to fly

The third car they had switched to met its demise on the interstate heading for Los Angeles, the vehicle sputtering weakly before grinding to a stop. Fiona practically wailed at the failure, smacking the wheel and pressing down on the gas to no avail as Sasha watched with disappointment. The pair then sat in silence as the vehicle quietly died, the engine no longer grumbling from beneath the hood as it had for the last ten hours.

“Guess we gotta get going,” Sasha muttered, searching the glove box for anything useful before checking her side of the interstate for any movement. With nothing in sight, she climbed out of the truck and packed anything else leftover from the car, spinning her bat in her hand as she circled the truck to join Fiona at the driver’s side.

“We’re so damn close, too,” Fiona growled as she stepped out, slamming the door shut with one final glare at the dull gray colored truck. “God. Let’s move then.”

The sisters walked in step, their hips nearly touching as they continued down the road littered here and there with cars and unmoving bodies. With every car they passed, checked, and got no help from, Fiona’s frustration grew deeper. Sasha watched as her sister gradually grew angrier, brows knitted together as they continued along the hot open road. The sun hit the backs of their necks, the whiplash from the more northern temperatures to the sunny side of California not going unnoticed by the pair.

“Like you said, we’re not far,” Sasha murmured, doing a full look around their surroundings again. “And even if we don’t get there today, we’ll still get there soon.”

“Not soon enough for me,” Fiona replied, her words stiff.

“Well, you’re not the only one who’s worried, Fi,” Sasha said softly.

The older of the two looked over to her sister, her features softening ever so slightly. She hesitated before letting out a deep sigh, turning her attention ahead once again as the quiet between tried to make itself comfortable.

“Sorry,” Fiona half mumbled.

“No, it’s okay,” Sasha said with a nod. “This isn’t exactly easy. But… we just have to hope.”

Fiona nodded as well. She dared not say anything more, letting the quiet settle in once more as they continued their steady travel over the interstate road. It was about an hour in that they finally saw movement, a dozen or so undead dragging themselves, groaning, down the asphalt with no apparent aim or chase to entice them. Wordlessly, Fiona and Sasha hunkered down, creeping toward the couple of cars that were sitting off the immediate side of the road. They crouched down there, their heads peering through the windows of the car they used for shelter.

The infected people seemed to take forever to simply walk out of range, the quiet growls serving to put both women into a state of unease that followed them even as they began again down the interstate, their movements far more rigid as they scanned the oncoming horizon for obstacles or enemies.

“I miss home,” Sasha uttered out loud.

Fiona nodded. “We passed Barstow a little while ago- we should be there soon.”

Sasha whined softly. “I hope.”

Fiona sent a smile her sister’s way, nodding once again, more firm that time. “I know. But listen, when have I ever been wrong?”

Sasha gave a small laugh, shaking her head. “Don’t start with that.”

“Oh, what? You know I’m never wrong,” Fiona responded, grinning as she reached over with her free hand to shove her sister. The rigidity in her body began to evaporate at the sight of Sasha grinning back at her.

“Doesn’t mean you’re always right,” Sasha laughed, reaching back to respond in kind.

“That can’t work together, it’s one or the other,” Fiona argued, the grin never leaving her face. “And I  _ know _ I’m never wrong.”

“You’re so stupid,” Sasha settled for, shaking her head before reaching her hand for Fiona’s, wrapping her fingers tightly around her sister’s.

“I’m an older sister,” Fiona corrected, tangling her fingers with Sasha’s. “You drove me crazy for twenty years. It’s part of it.”

For the following half hour, they simply made their way closer to home on foot, avoiding any possible dangers with relative ease. When a gas station crept into sight, Fiona couldn’t tuck away her excitement at the possibility of a car being found to carry them the final stretch.

The pure eagerness overtook Fiona and she grabbed Sasha’s hand and picked up speed, practically racing towards the gas station and the littered cars within the stalls. This has station was equipped with a full indoor store, signs and newspaper stalls a familiar look that gave an uncomfortable amount of normalcy to the eerily silent stop. Ignoring that, Fiona bolted to the nearest car, a newer looking four door with a bright white color.

“Fi- Fi!” Sasha practically laughed, stumbling to keep up with her sister.

Fiona’s from had widened from ear to ear, throwing the driver’s door open and peering in. She gasped at the sight of keys, reaching past the driver’s seat to the center console, her mind practically tunnel visioned on the tiny keyring boasting a bright pink pompom between the car keys and likely, house keys.

Just as her excited hands closed around the keychain and she began lowering herself into the seat, a much colder hand clamped down on hers, a gasp leaving her as she turned her attention to the source.

A loud snarl ripped out of the decaying corpse in the backseat, the clumsily operating hand struggling to pull Fiona’s toward its mouth of rotting teeth.

“Fiona!” Sasha shrieked, immediately yanking her sister out of the car, disregarding the woman’s tumble to the ground.

Without a moment, Sasha pulled her handgun and discharged a quick bullet directly into the undead’s gaping mouth.

The silence that followed was one of caution and horror, the two looking around before moving another bone in their body. It was swift that several loud growls pierced the air, the color draining from the sisters’ faces.

“Why the hell did you  _ do _ that?!” Sasha cried, clicking the safety and holstering her gun as she scrambled to get Fiona up again. “Y-you didn’t even look! Why didn’t you  _ look _ ?!”

Fiona couldn’t scramble any words together as she was pulled frantically toward the gas station store as three undead stumbled into view. Fiona kept her gaze swivelling to ensure none of them, not the several more that were gradually moving into focus, got too close to Sasha. It felt far longer than it actually took to get through the door of the store, the bell jingling loud enough to call the dead from the aisle out and into view before Sasha had even barricaded the swinging door fully.

“Have you got them?” Sasha shouted as she dragged more heavy objects to the door.

“Got them,” Fiona muttered as she moved forward, pocketing the car keys and bringing her bat up over her shoulder.

It took only an equal amount of swings to the amount of dead, only a few minutes later seeing the two women standing back at the door, staring out into the faces of almost twenty undead clawing at the glass that stood between them.

“It almost got you,” Sasha practically whispered, but the anger in her words did not go unheard.

“I know,” Fiona murmured.

“It almost had you,” Sasha repeated, her voice growing in volume. “It- that- it almost  _ got you!” _

“Sash,” Fiona said, her words gentle as her hand curled around her sister’s wrist to pull her away from the glass, out of sight behind a shelf of auto related items. “Look at me.”

Fiona gave her sister a moment, a moment that Sasha did not comply, before lifting a hand to softly grab the woman by the chin and turn her head. Tears welled up in Sasha’s eyes as she shook her head.

“It won’t happen again,” Fiona said softly, moving the hand to grab Sasha’s arm. “You saved me. Thank you. Now listen, you feel this?”

Fiona squeezed her sister’s arm and waited for her sister to nod before continuing.

“I am not,  _ ever _ , gonna leave you, Sash,” Fiona spoke, her words firm. “We’re getting home together. You and me, like it always has been.”

Sasha nodded again, sniffling before leaning forward to tuck her forehead against Fiona’s chest. The older woman wrapped her arms around her sister and set her chin on top of her hair, eyes closing for a moment to simply breathe and ground herself against her best friend.

“I love you, Fi,” Sasha whispered.

“I love you too,” her sister whispered back.

They spent another moment in the stillness before getting back into action. Sasha combed the store for any supplies she could fit into their backpacks while Fiona found where the backdoor was located. When she confirmed it was unlocked, she made her way back to the front, finding Sasha knelt behind the counter. Fiona leaned over, hands gripping the countertop with a smile, watching her sister momentarily.

When Sasha turned her head back, she gave a start, the slick black sunglasses nearly falling off her eyes.

“Well, hello there, Miss Celebrity,” Fiona laughed, eyes twinkling.

“Listen, they fit really nice and they’re smart to have,” Sasha argued as she stood. “Cali’s bright as hell.”

Fiona shook her head but continued to grin. “Right, right. Well, if you’re finished, we can get going.”

Sasha nodded. “I got the front door, right?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Fiona replied, heading around the counter to check for any way to use the gas pumps once again. She frowned, but nonetheless managed to access the pump next to the white car they had seen before.

“Let’s hope Old Faithful out there doesn’t need a new car battery,” Fiona muttered to herself.

With that, Fiona made her way to the back door, hand on the knob as she turned to look back at Sasha. A nod was exchanged before her younger sister turned to the front doors, smacking the glass and yelling as loud as she possibly could. The undead only grew more furious in their movements, the snarls becoming louder as Sasha antagonized them mercilessly.

Fiona squeezed the door handle tightly and readied herself, casting one final glance out the door before shouting to her sister. Sasha wasted no time in turning and bolting as Fiona swung the back door open, rushing back out and ensuring they were still alone. As Sasha practically leapt out the door, Fiona moved to grab her sister by the hand and they began creeping around the building. The side nearest to their car was devoid of danger, the pair of them moving all the way to the corner before Fiona stole a quick peek around to the front.

“They’re still busy,” she said with a nod. “All right, you stay right next to me, you’re going to get in the driver’s seat and I’ll pump the gas. Make  _ sure  _ you look for the gas cover button as soon as you get in.”

“Okay,” Sasha whispered. “Ready when you are.”

They took only a moment to prepare themselves before all at once making a run for their escape. The undead hadn’t even noticed them until they got to the car, Sasha doing as instructed and popping the gas tank cover. Fiona scrambled to get the nozzle fitted into the car, her eyes only ever leaving the approaching threat when she didn’t need to see what she was doing.

“Fi, hurry!” Sasha shouted, slipping her hand out of the open door to gesture for the keys.

Fiona fumbled momentarily to get the keys to her sister, looking up again to see two of the undead had reach the nearest pump. When she heard the sound of the car roaring to life, there was a mixture of shock and relief.

“Sash, you know that could explode, right?!” Fiona demanded, leaning into the window as Sasha rolled it down.

“I’m pretty comfortable taking my chances!” Sasha shouted back, pointed at the gas pump. “Just cover us up and let’s go!”

Fiona did as she was told, hurrying to sling the pump away and recover the gas tank. She slid across the hood of the car and threw the passenger door open, only shutting it after Sasha had taken off.

As the car roared down the road, the windows down to keep the stink of the corpse relatively bearable, Fiona and Sasha only stared ahead, eyes wide.

“What the  _ fuck!” _ Sasha finally cried out, glancing to her sister. “That was- that was close! That was a little close!”

“It’s okay!” Fiona shouted, looking to her sister with the same wide eyes, now filled with exhilaration. “You did great! We did it!”

Sasha briefly hung her head before looking back up, taking in a deep breath as her locs swung in the wind rushing through. “Jesus. Well, we- I guess-  _ viva la _ Glendale, right?”

“So close now,” Fiona confirmed. “Shouldn’t be long. Shouldn’t be long…”

It was not long, in fact, before they were driving through roads full of even more unmoving cars and bodies that they did their best to avoid looking at. The number of moving undead far outweighed any they had seen at that point, a handful of stragglers even having their attention caught by the bright vehicle as it wove its way down roads and into Glendale itself. They turned onto their road, the bright green sign boasting the name of Everett street.

They drove past familiar homes, the unending sense of home, of  _ being _ home, making their stomachs turn in a way they couldn’t put into words if either of them dared to try. Sasha ignored the scattered bodies as she pulled up into the drive through of their home, her fingers tight around the steering wheel as she stared up to the white walls of the house they had called home since they were children.

“He always left spare keys, didn’t he?” Sasha whispered, eyes wide as she stared at the three garage doors they parked in front of. “I was always coming home late.”

“I was always losing mine,” Fiona murmured, looking to her sister.

Sasha gave a soft, tearful chuckle. “We really were a handful, huh?”

FIona nodded, reaching across their seats to gently grab and squeeze Sasha’s shoulder. She waited until her sister turned to look at her before smiling. “Let’s go in, we gotta get our shit together.”

They checked their surroundings thoroughly before climbing out of the car, closing the doors but not locking the vehicle. Sasha easily pocketed the keys as they moved to the garage door they parked in front of. In front of each door, there were mats of varying designs. Under the middle one, they indeed found a spare key for the front door. It was tagged with a simple smiley face, no doubt written on to bring an ironic sort of amusement to the situation of consistently misplacing other keys.

They hurried up the stairs that led to the front door, passing flower pots of plants that had been needing to be repotted, and the rose woven wreath that hung on the inside door. Once past said doors, the pair of them both paused, the lock clicking back into place the last sound that was made for what felt like a very long time. They took in the first room, decorated as the sort of proud father room- photos of a combination of Sasha and Fiona were hung around the walls, all the way from when they just girls. A mantle hung over a brick fireplace that boasted trophies and awards from their school days, a wooden plaque hung over it, hand crafted and wood burned to say in detailed, flowing cursive, “ _ My Pride and Joy. _ ”

Sasha sniffled and Fiona looked over just in time to see the woman wipe her eyes.

“Kitchen first, then- then bathroom or something,” Sasha said out loud, not looking to her sister before advancing into the rest of the house.

After her sister was gone, Fiona stepped to the wall that boasted the oldest photos of their family. In nearly all of them, both Fiona and Sasha had been captured in glorious childlike bliss, either playing, studying, or simply asleep. She searched every one, pulling down one that showed only the sisters. Then her gaze, though hesitantly, swept towards the photos that included one more person.

The gaze of her and her sister stared back at Fiona alongside a third face, a man with short brown hair and an eyepatch protecting his right eye. In the particular photo she looked to, he was sitting between two young sisters, one hand on either of their shoulders, a small electronic sitting in front of the trio. Fiona remembered it well- it was a science project, and one of the first steps Sasha had taken towards mechanical hobbies and talents. Fiona smiled through her misty vision and reached up to take the frame down, retrieving the photo from beneath the glass pane and putting it into her pocket with the first picture she had collected.

Fiona sniffled quietly, taking another moment before following Sasha into the house, walking through the kitchen her sister had clearly already gone through. She glanced about just to be sure, noting a few things left that Sasha had most likely chosen to leave. Fiona tucked that acknowledgement into her pocket and continued in, passing the living room before walking down the hall that branched into three bedrooms and the bathroom.

In the former of the two, Sasha was indeed going through cabinets and drawers, muttering to herself as she haphazardly packed bottles of medicine, first aid supplies, and even a roll of toilet paper. Fiona leaned against the doorway, smiling softly as her sister went about the task, her incessant string of muttering not stopping until she finally noticed Fiona’s presence.

“Hey, hear me out, is it smart to pack some- some of his nerve pills?” Sasha asked, holding up the orange prescription bottle in question.

“Eh, it’s not gonna take up much space anyway,” Fiona replied, glancing at the label. “Is it just his Xanax or is that other one there too?”

Sasha hummed before digging back through the several bottles still lined up inside the mirror cabinet. 

“Amitrip- Amitriptyline?” Sasha said slowly, reading the label over.

“Definitely pack that,” Fiona replied, glancing down the hallway. “I’ll go- I’ll go check his bathroom.”

Sasha didn’t react, only going back to her work in full focus. Fiona lingered a moment, watching as Sasha went right back to mumbling to herself. She smiled still before heading down the hallway. She stared down the door handle for a long time, her hand finally tentatively reaching for it.

Fiona took a deep breath and stepped into Felix’s room.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic will be updated every ten days, enjoy :D! If you do, please drop a kudos and comment and follow me on tumblr if you want!


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